The Friendly Church
The Jamaica Baptist Union has just completed its 170th Annual Assembly So what does this mean? The JBU is over 170 years old, or put another way, it is over 170 years since the Union has been meeting together as a family of Baptists. That’s a pretty long time. It may be of interest to some of us while to others, it means nothing at all.
The practice of fasting has been observed by the religious community which has informed Christianity ever since we can recall. Moses fasted for forty days and forty nights and in that time wrote the Ten Commandments as given by God (Ex. 34:28). Daniel decided that he was going to fast for three weeks by refusing to eat meat and the choice food of the Babylonians as a means of protest and preservation of his faith. (Dan 10:3) Esther had to make a grave decision, which was to petition the King, her husband on behalf of her people.
Last month I invited you to dedicate some time to prayer and fasting for the church Let us continue in prayer and fasting and particularly for the Millennials which is our focus for this month.
One of the mandate given by Jesus to the Church is to evangelize (Matt 28:19), in fact to make disciples. The Church has employed different methods over the years to accomplish this goal and one of these is an evangelistic campaign. This year the church has decided to hold another of these meetings in the church. This will run from Sunday April 7 to Saturday April 13.
May I remind you again that the main purpose of having these meetings is that we can further our outreach of evangelizing and discipling the lost.
The months of May and June are usually observed as Family Months. During these months we specifically celebrate mothers and fathers and to some extent the whole family. It is a great time for many persons as those who are biological mothers and fathers are celebrated and affirmed. It’s an opportunity for children to let their mothers and/or their fathers know how much they love them and that’s a good thing. It may even be a good time for those who mainly have a commercial interest.
As we continue our focus on the Family during the month of June, allow me to share with you some excerpts from a broadcast on Christ For Today on Sunday May 26.
The programme was in the form of an Interview with Rev Donovan Thomas, an Associate of the Family Life Ministries and Pastor of the Calvary Gospel Assembly, and Trevor Edwards who also serves as Chair of the JBU Family Life Commission. So here we go.
One of the things I mentioned to the Council when we met on Thursday was the fact that I would like to see us incorporate testimonies in our worship services more often, in our small groups and as we share with one another. I mean real testimonies, telling about what God is doing in our
lives. As I am sure God is acting in our lives and we need to tell others about it. It will encourage the growth of our faith and also encourage others.
Dear members,
Dear Family in Christ
The BBC over its 99 years has had a rich history of having small groups as part of its church’s ministry. These have functioned as Classes where members meet periodically, look out for each other, garner support for harvest, and participate in the worship at Golden Spring church monthly among other things. We also have the Cell groups, the Women’s Federation and the Brotherhood, Sunday School, to name a few. These have served the church well and there are persons who can testify of the impact that these groups have had on their lives.
We all know the value of family and we can in a sense say that the church is a family of families. It is a community of small families bonding together, growing together, praying together, healing together and caring for one another. These are certainly some of the marks of a healthy family. It is no wonder then, that those persons who have experienced this love in their families, desire to transfer the same principles and practices to the church.